Geotextile applicator device and method

ABSTRACT

An improved device for simultaneously unrolling geotextile fabric and dispensing an aggregate layer for road construction comprises a hanger bar coupled to a vehicle frame. The hanger bar supports a roller bar adapted to carry a fabric roll. A dragger couples the hanger bar and arranges to present a dead-weight member on top of the fabric. An improved method using the improved device drags the chain on top of the fabric as it unrolls, thus holding the fabric in place. At the same time, a conveyered aggregate delivery system dispenses gravel on top of the fabric.

PRIORITY CLAIM

The present application claims benefit under 35 USC Section 119(e) ofU.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/050,019 filed on 2 May2008. The present application is based on and claims priority from thisapplication, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to a device adapted for use on the rearportion of an off-highway or construction vehicle to improve theunrolling of geotextile materials as commonly used in road-beds,landscaping, retention walls, pond-lining, and the like. And, morespecifically, the present invention relates to a device that couples toa conveyered material placement vehicle to simultaneously andcontinuously dispense fabric from a roll as an aggregate is placed ontop of the dispensed fabric.

Certain construction techniques for roadbeds, drainage ditches, man-madeponds and other landscaping needs require a cloth or fabric liner layerto be placed on the newly prepared and compacted soil. This cloth orfabric liner typically arrives at the construction site in large rolesvarying from about 3-feet to about 15-feet in width and (unfurled)having lengths of 300 feet or more for landscape rolls and about 13-feetwide or about 15-feet wide for road-bed fabric rolls, for example.

Fabric rolls used in road construction, landscaping and the like aregenerally known as geotextiles and are defined by the American Societyfor Testing and Materials (ASTM) as any permeable textile material usedwith foundation, soil, rock, earth as an integral part of a constructionproject, structure, or system and may be synthetic or natural fibers, orboth. Geomembranes, also used in similar applications, are continuousmembrane-type liners or barriers that have low permeability to controlmigration of fluid and restrict fluid flow.

In the road construction industry there are essentially four primaryuses for geotextiles: separation, drainage, filtration, andreinforcement. However, most often geotextiles are used for stabilizingroads through separation and drainage. Stabilization results from thegeotextile acting as a barrier to migration of fines in the subgrade tothe base layer (aggregate layer), while simultaneously permitting waterto migrate from the base layer to the subgrade or laterally away fromthe roadbed. Migration of fines is highly undesirable because it weakensthe road structure.

Geotextiles are well suited for temporary road construction,particularly in environmentally sensitive areas where a biodegradablewoven jute geotextile can be used. Geotextiles are economical fortemporary road construction, such as construction roads in isolatedareas as are needed to install power grid infrastructure, wind-turbinepower generations, or remote logging roads, for example.

Such roads, for example, use a crushed aggregate layer on top of nativesubgrade material. A geotextile serves as a separation layer between thesubgrade and the aggregate, preventing intermixing of the two layers.Intermixing occurs (absent the geotextile layer) from pressure exertedon the road from vehicles, the downward and laterally moving loadcreates a pump-like affect that draws fines in the subgrade upward,intermixing in the aggregate layer. This affect becomes more dramaticwhen there is water migration as well.

Thus, proper selection and installation of a suitable geotextile isvitally important in road construction. The installation method forgeotextiles (or fabric rolls), as generally known in the art, requiresshaping the roadway subgrade, rolling the fabric down the road one laneper roll, and if windy, weight the sides of the unrolled fabric withshovels full of gravel or use spikes or staples to pin the fabric down.Then, dump and spread the gravel or base course material using normalmethods with an end dump truck (or belly-dump or side-dump trucks)—butmaking certain to avoid driving onto the geotextile with any equipmentother than rubber-tired vehicles operating over a solid sub-grade in astraight line with no turns and a vehicle speed of no more than sevenmiles per hour or otherwise risking a puncture or tear, damaging thefabric and making it less suitable for its intended use.

Currently, the tools and methods to unroll these large fabric rollsinclude a hanger bar coupled to the rear of a vehicle, such as a dumptruck (belly, side, or end) or a front-end loader using the bucket tosuspend a roller bar and reversing to unroll the material. The hangerbar supports a roll bar adapted to slideably receive a roll of material.Then, several workers unroll a portion of the roll, stand on it, pin it,or manually shovel some aggregate (e.g. gravel) on the roll to hold itin place. Next, the vehicle advances and unrolls the fabric as thevehicle travels. To hold the fabric in place, the army of workersshovels aggregate, or use spikes to pin the fabric to the sub-grade.Only after the fabric is fully installed, then a second aggregatedelivery truck (dump truck), backs to the fabric—to avoid driving on thefabric, which could rip or tear the fragile material—and then dumps theaggregate. Next, a third vehicle (bull-dozer) distributes the piledaggregate on top of the fabric. This is a tedious and time-consumingprocedure that must be repeated for the entire length of the road, whichcould be several dozens of miles.

The state-of-the-art method of installing fabric sheets, according tothe “North Carolina Forestry BMP Manual”, Appendix 4 at page 222 of 243(amended 2006) publication date unknown, includes shaping the roadwayand establishing the crown; rolling the fabric, weight the sides and endof the unrolled fabric with shovels full of gravel, or use spikes to pinthe fabric down. This method, however, has certain drawbacks. Onedrawback includes puncturing the fabric with spikes or staples to pinthe material: it is undesirable to puncture the fabric as this causesrips and tears in the sheet, and the punctures themselves enable thebase layer to intermix with the aggregate layer, which weakens theroadbed. Manpower cost associated with shoveling aggregate on top of theunrolled sheet to weight it down is yet another drawback of this knownmethod.

Certain devices are known to facilitate the laying of paving fabricalong a roadbed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,456,399 issued on 26 Jun.1984 to Conover describes an apparatus for laying paving fabriccomprising a core support member of an adjustable length for supportinga roll of paving fabric on a vehicle, a tension applying apparatussecured in the proximity of the fabric roll to remove wrinkles from theweb prior to the application to the roadbed, and a broom apparatus forfacilitating adherence of the web to the roadbed and a guard for thebroom for reducing wrinkling of the fabric.

Yet, there remains a need for improved methods and devices that improvethe installation of geotextiles and similar fabric rolls, particularlyon temporary road-bed projects. Such tools and methods should minimizeworker exposure to injury, reduce manpower required, and reduce expenseof installation through time and manpower efficiencies. An improveddevice and method is needed that enables the unrolling of the fabricroll without requiring spikes to penetrate the fabric to pin the roll inplace (as needed, for example, in windy conditions). It would further bedesired to have a tool and method that improves efficiencies bycombining the rolling of the fabric with the delivery of the aggregate.Such a device, in addition, should be easy to transport to the job siteon existing vehicles. Further, such an improved device should be easy toassemble and disassemble by one person.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention includes improved devices and methods tosimultaneously unroll geotextile fabric and place aggregate on top,without requiring spikes or staples to pin the fabric in place.

In one preferred embodiment, the present invention consists of aconveyered material placement vehicle adapted to hold multiple widthsand lengths of road bedding cloth or landscape cloth. The vehicleincludes two receiver hitches welded, attached or otherwise coupled onopposite sides of the rear bumper, approximately seven feet between eachother. The pair of receiver hitches slideably receive a correspondingsquare steel tube or round pipe having a through hole at one end, whichenables the retaining pin of the receiver hitch to pass through thereceiver hitch and the end of the steel tube when inserted in the hitch.The pair of horizontally disposed steel tubes protrude generallyperpendicular from the rear bumper of the vehicle and serve as mountingarms for an approximately 16-foot length of square steel tubing (orsimilarly sized round pipe of about 2-inches in diameter) that serves asthe hanger bar, which arranges generally parallel to the rear bumper ofthe vehicle and shares the vehicles centerline, but is offset from therear bumper by a length determined by the pair of steel tubes, which areof a length to clear the device from the operation of the conveyeredaggregate delivery apparatus mounted to the rear portion of the vehicle.

The hanger bar includes a pair of end caps and half links are welded tothe end caps, and a pair of eye-loops are additionally welded to thisbar. A segment of about 2-feet in length of chain hangs from each endcap half links. This pair of chain segments supports a roller bar, whichhas a round cross section and adapts to suspend a fabric roll and allowsthe roll to rotate freely on the bar. The roller bar is further adaptedto receive varying lengths of fabric rolls by means of severalpositioned through-holes, which adapt to receive lock-pins. Thus, a pairof locking plates can be positioned on the roll bar, and secured fromsliding by the locking pins, ensuring the fabric roll remains in fixedposition relative to the vehicle centerline. The roller bar ispre-drilled at about 15-foot and about 13-foot lengths, which representstandard roll widths commonly used in road building.

A mesh assembly fabricated from about five about 16-feet to about18-feet lengths of chain form the long (vehicle) axis of the grid, whileabout twelve segments of about 3.5-feet of chain create the cross axisof the grid. In stead of chain segments, a heavy cable could also beused to form the mesh grid. Similarly, a grid of solid or hollow metalbars or pipes could be arranged to drag on top of the fabric and,although not optimal for curves, the rigid grid members could serve thesame function as the mesh assembly fabricated from chain segments.

A dragger bar adapts to accept the five long chains (or cable or rigidbar segments), thus dragging the dead-weight member behind the vehicle.The dragger bar is positioned to carry the chain on top of the fabricroll, weighting down the roll as it rests on the roller bar.

With receiver hitches, roller bar, hanger bar, cloth roll, and draggerbar with chains in place, the cloth is initially held down with theweight of the dragger bar chains as the conveyered material placementvehicle moves forward. The conveyered material placement vehicle thenbegins to place gravel on top of the cloth as it proceeds in a forwardmotion, driven via a remote controlled drive system. The conveyeredgravel placed on top of the cloth keeps the cloth flat and firmly heldon the subgrade even in windy conditions. The operator stops the truckwhen the roll is empty, un-clips the roller bar from the hanger bar,slides out the spent roll, places the new roll on the roller bar, liftsthe dragger bar from the pair of L-hooks on the hanger bar and sets thedragger bar on the ground. Then, the new roll on the roller bar isre-clipped to the hanger bar, and the dragger bar is lifted back on theL-hooks, automatically positioning the dead-weight member on top of thenew fabric roll.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a deviceconsisting of sub-components sized and weighted for one worker to removefrom the vehicle when in the transport mode, assemble the components,attach the device to the receivers on the vehicle and disassemble whenthe job is complete.

DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a front view of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is an off-set right-side view of the embodiment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a partial, off-set right-side view of the embodiment of FIG.1.

FIG. 4 is an off-set left-side view of the embodiment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a partial detail view of a component of a preferred embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an off-set frontal view of one embodiment of the presentinvention and shows a step according to a preferred method of thepresent invention.

FIG. 7 is an off-set right side view of one embodiment of the presentinvention and shows another step according to a preferred method of thepresent invention.

FIG. 8 is a partial front view of one embodiment of the presentinvention and shows another step according to a preferred method of thepresent invention.

FIG. 9 is a front view of one embodiment of the present invention andshows another step according to a preferred method of the presentinvention.

FIG. 10 is an off-set frontal view of one embodiment of the presentinvention and shows another step according to a preferred method of thepresent invention.

FIG. 11 is a front view of one embodiment of the present invention andshows another step according to a preferred method of the presentinvention.

FIG. 12 is a possible environment of use of one embodiment of thepresent invention and depicts an aggregate delivery vehicle dispensingaggregate onto a fabric roll on a roadbed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Possible preferred embodiments will now be described with reference tothe drawings and those skilled in the art will understand thatalternative configurations and combinations of components may besubstituted without subtracting from the invention. Also, in somefigures certain components are omitted to more clearly illustrate theinvention.

FIGS. 1-5 illustrate a first preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. The present invention includes a mechanical implement 10,specifically, for example, a device utilized to unroll and fixablylocate a geotextile 10 fabric for roadbed construction. The implement(device 10) adapts to couple to a rear portion of a vehicle frame (V),for example, a conveyered aggregate delivery vehicle, or more broadly aconveyered material placement vehicle, as used in roadbed construction,by cooperating with the vehicle's forward travel to unroll the fabricroll and incorporating a unique and novel dead-weight member 110, suchas a heavy yet flexible cable, rope, tubes or assembly of chain segmentsarranged in a mesh grid assembly to weight the recently unrolled fabricon top of the prepared sub-grade.

FIG. 1, a front view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention,illustrates most of the major components including a support frameincluding a stinger member 20, which releasable couples to the vehicleframe V and carries the principal horizontal support or hanger bar 50.The support frame further includes a hanger bar arranged generallyperpendicular to the long-axis of the vehicle frame and extending fromabout 6-feet to about 10 feet on each side of the vehicle's center linefor a total length from about 12-feet to about 20-feet. The hanger barincludes a pair of oppositely mounted winches 60 on each extremity ofthe length of the bar. The winches enable workers to position and liftthe relatively heavy rolls of fabric (once located on the roller bar 70,discussed below) relative to the hanger bar and determines the height ofthe roll from the ground and relative to the vehicle frame. Further,opposite ends of the hanger bar each include a chain loop or hook 52 (orother attaching means) from which a first and second chain segment 72suspends.

The chain segments 72, in turn, support a roller bar 70. The roller barsupports rolls of geotextile fabric as generally understood in this art.The roller bar releasably couples to the chain segments 72 at acorresponding first and second roller-bar end, each end has acorresponding end cap 74 with half-link 76 chain support means (such asa hook, receiver, quick-connect, or other coupling means) adapted toenable the chain segments 72 to attach and un-attach as needed to swap aspent roll for a new roll of fabric. Additionally, a winch cable 62 fromthe pair of winches 60 on the hanger bar 50 equally releasably attach tothe roller bar by means of the half-links 76.

Also suspended from the stinger assembly 20, a dragger bar 90 arrangesgenerally parallel to the roller bar 70, and positions intermediatelybetween the vehicle and the roller bar. The dragger bar includes aplurality of attaching means 92 consisting of hooks or half-links orchain, or other similar device adapted to selectively and releasablycouple a link of chain to the dragger bar. A dead-weight member 110adapts to couple (not shown in FIGS. 1-5) to the dragger bar at theattaching means 92. Thus, the dead-weight member positions over the rollof fabric located on the roller bar (the roll of fabric is not shown inFIGS. 1-5) and extends rearward beyond the vehicle.

In the various embodiments and figures, the long horizontal members,specifically, the hanger bar 50, the roller bar 70 and the dragger bar90 are depicted as rigid members, solid with hollow centers having afixed length. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate thatthese horizontal members may have a solid core or, alternatively, mayinclude telescoping features to enable the bars to extend and retract tovarious desired lengths corresponding to transport of the device, or asneeded for varying widths of the road bed, fabric roll, or applicationof use, for example.

For example, the hanger bar 50, in another preferred embodiment (notillustrated in the accompanying figures) comprises a hanger membercoupled to the vehicle via stinger arms 22. The hanger member has anlength of about 8-feet to about 10-feet long, or about the width of thevehicle to which it attaches. The hanger member further is adapted toreceive a first and second hanger arm at opposite ends of the hangermember: Accordingly, the hanger member may be solid, with the armsinserting over the bar, or, preferably, the hanger member has a hollowcore, and the arms slide inside a portion of the exposed ends of themember. The member is further configured with several though holes,arranged to correspond to similar through holes in the associated hangerarm so that a retaining pin can fixably secure the arm inside themember. In addition, the at least one hanger arm (adapted to slideblyengage a portion of the hanger member) effectively provides anadjustable and variable length hanger bar from which the roll barsuspends. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that thisembodiment enables a geotextile roll to be positioned off-center fromthe vehicle, or on center with the vehicle, as needed by theapplication. Further, should a more narrow installation process beinvolved, for example, re-paving a single vehicle lane on an existingroadway or installing a geotextile roll in a roadside ditch, the presentinvention more readily adapts to this use.

Making general reference to FIGS. 1-11, details of preferred embodimentsof the present invention are further discussed, below. In one preferredembodiment, a geotextile-roll applicator device 10 for a vehicle frame Vcomprises a means for coupling the device to the vehicle frame, such asa stinger member 20 and pair of receiver hitches 30. The receiverhitches 30 mount to the vehicle frame by any means well understood inthis art including, but not limited to, welding to the frame of thevehicle. A suitable receiving hitch 30 includes a standard squarereceiver commonly available for tow-hitch applications as understood inthis art. The stinger member 20 slideably inserts into the receiverhitch and a hitch pin 32 engages a through-hole in the stinger memberand receiver hitch, while a pin chain prevents misplacing the pin whennot inserted in the hole.

The stinger member 20 consists of a pair of horizontal stinger arms 22arranged generally parallel to the long-axis of the vehicle andextending outward from the rear portion of the vehicle. Each stinger arm22 includes a first arm-end adapted to slideably insert into therespective receiver hitch, an oppositely disposed second arm-endincluding a connecting means such as a U-shaped hook 24 (or othersimilar releasably coupling apparatus or means), and a verticallyarranged holder leg 26 disposed intermediate to the first and second armends at holder-leg first end. The holder-leg 26 further includes aholder-leg extension member 28 adapted to slideably engage theholder-leg at a holder-leg second end and a pin cooperating withpin-receiving holes aligned on both the extension and leg locates andsecures the extension relative to the leg. A connecting member, such asan L-shaped hook 29, locates at the free end of the extension 28. ThisL-shaped hook adapts to receive the dragger bar 90, discussed below.Thus, the position of the L-shaped hook relative to the ground, vehicle,and importantly, to the roller bar 70 can be adjusted by sliding theextension member 28 in or out of the leg 26 and securing the desiredposition with the pin 27.

The roller bar 70 suspends below the hanger bar 50 by a first and secondsuspension means consisting of two oppositely positioned and cooperatingchain segments 72. The roller bar adapts to support a roll of geotextilefabric and enables the roll to rotate on its roll-axis to dispense thefabric conventionally. The roll bar, in one preferred embodiment,includes a circular cross section, however a square cross section, oval,elliptical or rectangular cross section will work as well. A spacerplate 80, or preferably a pair of spacer plates adapt to arrange on theroller bar and lock into position by a locking means for selectively andreleasably coupling the spacer plate in a first fixed position on theroller bar. The locking means comprises a pair of spacer pins 82 thatcooperate with features on the roller bar. The spacer plate enableslocating the roll of fabric in a particular position relative to thecenter-line of the vehicle and maintains the roll in that desiredposition as the vehicle travels forward. Accordingly, the roll of fabriccan be placed in the center, as required for a road-bed, or off centeras may be required to lay fabric for a drainage ditch or retaining wall,for example. In a preferred embodiment, the roll-bar has pre-arrangedpin-receiving holes at about 13-feet between cooperating holes and atabout 15 feet, representing two standard widths of roll fabric.Additionally, each pin attaches to a cable coupled to its correspondingplate 80 to avoid loosing the pin when not inserted in the roller bar.

In one preferred embodiment, the hanger bar 50 carries a pair ofcooperating and oppositely positioned winches 60. However, in otherpreferred embodiments the winches may be omitted without detracting fromthe invention. Additionally, the accompanying figures illustrate a setof hand-operated winches: However, electric or hydraulic-powered wincheswould work equally well. Each winch includes a winch cable 62 thatselectively couples to the roller bar. Then, by cranking the winchhandle, the loaded roller bar can be positioned relative to the hangerbar and the chain segments 72 are attached to carry the load and thewinch cable can be released and retracted for subsequent use.

A dead-weight member 110 having a generally grid-like layout comprisinginterconnected segments of chain loops, releasably couples to thedragger bar 90. The dead-weight member consists of five generallyparallel drag chains measuring about 15-feet to about 25-feet(preferably about 18-feet) in length and extending from the dragger barbehind the vehicle. At a spacing of about 2-feet to about 4-feet(preferably about 3.5 feet), each drag-chain includes a cross-memberlink chain. Thus, a grid pattern of about a 3.5-foot square grid withfive columns is formed. This grid can, alternatively, be formed fromcables or bar-segments in lieu of chains.

FIGS. 6-11 illustrate a first preferred method of using the device 10 ofthe present invention. Accordingly, this preferred method for dispensinga roll of geotextile fabric using a conveyered aggregate deliveryvehicle having a frame adapted to couple to a geotextile roll applicatordevice, the method comprises: providing a geotextile roll; unrolling aportion of the geotextile; placing a dead-weight member provided by theapplicator device over the roll and extending the dead-weight memberonto the portion of unrolled geotextile; dispensing an amount ofaggregate using the conveyered aggregate delivery vehicle; and advancingthe vehicle forward thus causing the geotextile roll to unroll and thedead-weight member to drag on top of the newly unrolled geotextile andcontinuing dispensing aggregate as the vehicle advances forward.

Additionally, this method further includes steps of providing a remotecontrol drive system for the vehicle and advancing forward the vehiclewith the remote control drive system.

In another preferred embodiment, the present invention contemplates asystem for dispensing geotextile fabric. The system comprises a vehiclehaving an aggregate dispensing mechanism that is operable to dispenseaggregate from one end of the vehicle; and a geotextile-roll applicatordevice coupled to the vehicle adjacent the end from which aggregate isdispensed, the applicator device being configured to support a roll ofgeotextile fabric and dispense the fabric from the roll; wherein whenthe vehicle is moved along a path, the applicator device is operable todispense fabric onto the ground along the path and the aggregatedispensing mechanism is operable to dispense aggregate from the vehicleonto the dispensed fabric.

FIG. 12 illustrates another preferred method of the present inventionincludes a method for dispensing geotextile fabric from a roll. Themethod includes the steps of supporting the roll of fabric on anapplicator device, which is coupled to a vehicle; moving the vehiclealong a path; and dispensing fabric from the roll onto the ground alongthe path as the vehicle is moved and simultaneously dispensing aggregatefrom the vehicle onto the dispensed fabric.

When the device 10 is not in use, for example, when it is beingtransported to and from a job site, the entire device dis-assembles andcompactly stores on the vehicle by means of a T-rack 130. The T-rackadapts to insert in a receiver hitch arranged vertically on the vehicleframe. The T-rack cooperates with the conveyer rack provided by thevehicle.

The various components of the preferred embodiments of the presentinvention are generally about 1-inch to about 2-inch square or roundtube steel members welded or bolted, as conventionally understood in theart, or—as described herein—adapted to releasably couple to matingcomponents by hooks or other fasteners as described or as would begenerally understood in this art. And, although steel is contemplated,other materials would work equally well including aluminum, for example.Further, the various embodiments of the present invention and methodsshow a material placement vehicle (such as a conveyered aggregratedelivery truck, such as a Super Stone Slinger brand aggregate deliveryvehicle available from W.K. Dahms Mfg. Ltd., of St. Jacobs, Ontario,Canada), it will be appreciated by those skilled in this art that othervehicles—including side-dump, belly-dump, or rear dump trucks—can beadapted to work with the device 10, and may only require additionalmanpower or equipment to distribute aggregate on top of the unfurledgeotextile.

Although the invention has been particularly shown and described withreference to certain embodiments, it will be understood by those skilledin the art that various changes in form and detail may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention.

1. A geotextile-roll applicator device for coupling to a vehicle frame,the device comprising: a support frame; a roller bar supported by thesupport frame and adapted to receive a roll of geotextile fabric; and adead-weight member supported by the support frame and configured toextend over and weigh-down a portion of the geotextile fabric that isdispensed from the roll.
 2. The device of claim 1 wherein the supportframe comprises: a first and second receiver hitch coupled to thevehicle frame; a first and second stinger member, each stinger memberrespectively comprising a stinger arm having a first arm-end adapted toslideably insert into the respective receiver hitch, an oppositelydisposed second arm-end including a connecting means, and holder legdisposed intermediate to the first and second arm ends at a holder-legfirst end; a hanger bar coupled to the first and second stinger members;a dragger bar adapted to couple to the hanger bar, the dragger barfurther comprising a plurality of attaching members.
 3. The device ofclaim 2 wherein the first stinger member further comprises: a holder-legextension member adapted to slideably engage the holder-leg at aholder-leg second end; a retention pin and cooperating retention pinfirst through hole extending through the holder leg second end and acorresponding pin second through hole extending through the holder-legextension member whereby the retention pin selectively engages theholder leg in fixed position relative to the extension leg; and whereinthe connecting means comprises a connecting member coupled to theholder-leg extension member.
 4. The device of claim 1 furthercomprising: a spacer plate adapted to slideably engage the roller bar;and a locking means for selectively and releasably coupling the spacerplate in a first fixed position on the roller bar.
 5. The device ofclaim 2 wherein the hanger bar further comprises: a first winch meansfor selectively positioning the roller bar relative to the supportframe.
 6. The device of claim 2 wherein the hanger bar furthercomprises: a second winch means for selectively positioning the rollerbar relative to the support frame.
 7. The device of claim 1 wherein thesupport member further comprises: a hanger bar comprising a hangermember coupled to the vehicle and at least one hanger arm adapted toslidebly engage a portion of the hanger member whereby an effectivehanger member length is variably adjustable, the hanger arm furtheradapted to suspend at least one end of the roller bar.
 8. Thegeotextile-roll applicator device of claim 1 further comprising: adragger bar adapted to be supported by the support frame, the draggerbar further adapted to support the dead-weight member.
 9. A geotextileroll applicator device adapted to couple to a vehicle frame, the devicecomprising: a first and second stinger member, each stinger memberrespectively comprising a stinger arm having a first arm-end adapted tocouple the vehicle frame, an oppositely disposed second arm-endincluding a connecting means, and holder leg disposed intermediate tothe first and second arm ends at a holder-leg first end; a hanger barhaving a first and second eyelet, each eyelet adapted to releasablecouple to the connecting means provided by the corresponding stinger armto support the hanger bar from the corresponding connecting means, thehanger bar further comprising a first and second chain-loop disposed onopposite ends of the hanger bar and adapted to receive a correspondingsegment of roller-bar chain; a roller bar suspended from the first andsecond segments of roller-bar chain presented by the hanger bar, theroller bar further adapted to slideably receive the geotextile roll; adragger bar coupled to the holder leg at a holder-leg second end, thedragger bar further comprising a plurality of eyelets disposed along alength of the bar; and a dead-weight member adapted to couple to atleast a portion of the plurality of eyelets disposed along the draggerbar.
 10. A method for dispensing a roll of geotextile fabric using avehicle having a frame adapted to couple to a geotextile roll applicatordevice, the method comprising: providing a geotextile roll; unrolling aportion of the geotextile; placing a dead-weight member provided by theapplicator device over the roll and extending the dead-weight memberonto the portion of unrolled geotextile; dispensing an amount ofaggregate; and advancing the vehicle forward thus causing the geotextileroll to unroll and the dead-weight member to drag on top of the newlyunrolled geotextile.
 11. The method of claim 10 further comprising:providing a remote control drive system for the vehicle; advancingforward the vehicle with the remote control drive system.
 12. The methodof claim 10 further comprising: providing conveyered material placementvehicle.
 13. The method of claim 12 further comprising: advancing theconveyered material placement vehicle forward thus causing thegeotextile roll to unroll and the dead-weight member to drag on top ofthe newly unrolled geotextile.
 14. The method of claim 12 furthercomprising: providing an aggregate and dispensing the aggregate on topof the unrolled geotextile as the vehicle advances.
 15. The method ofclaim 12 further comprising: assembling the device at a job site. 16.The method of claim 12 further comprising: transporting the device onthe vehicle in a disassembled state.